The range of DeLank granite memorials from Odlings is about to increase significantly as the memorial wholesaler signs an exclusivity deal with the Cornish granite quarry.

Until now, Odlings has only offered a simple DeLank ogee memorial because DeLank memorials could be bought from other sources, including the quarry itself. Odlings did not even describe its DeLank granite memorial as DeLank because it did not want to encourage customers to seek out the quarry and go direct.

That, too, is about to change because, as it will be the only wholesaler supplying DeLank memorials, it will be happy to make the most of the famous name.

Odlings Managing Director Duncan Reynolds says: “There’s still a growing level of interest in sustainable sources of stone – Portland limestone, York sandstone, DeLank granite.

“We like to be green – we have an environmental committee; solar panels; we’re just about to have waterless urinals installed – but we don’t make a song and dance about it.”

He says Odlings will buy scants from the quarry and process them in their factory in Hull. The stone will be available in various ways, from memorial blanks to finished stones. “There’s nothing in it for us to limit supply,” says Duncan. “We will supply exactly as DeLank does at the moment.”

Competition from plenty of other stones will also mean that prices have to remain competitive.

Adrian Phillips, who operates DeLank in Cornwall and Black Mountain Quarries on the border of Herefordshire with Wales, says he was happy to negotiate the exclusivity deal with Odlings because memorials were not his core business.

DeLank has a well equipped factory but there were never enough memorial sales to make it worth concentrating on the sector. “We’ve got probably our busiest order book in 15 years,” Adrian told NSS. “It was a difficult situation – you don’t want to turn away work but you don’t want to interrupt production on a major project to make a £200 memorial. We had reached a point where we would only react to memorial customers when they moaned.”

DeLank was not promoting memorials and supply was restricted to the South West. “I’m sure there are people not just in the South West who would like a Cornish granite memorial,” says Adrian. “With exclusivity, Odlings will be able to push the whole DeLank story. I’m over the moon with the agreement.”

There is more about the latest developments in the memorial sector in the NSS Report : Memorials.